Hide And Seek
by evieeden
Summary: After eight years of hide and seek, Demetri finally begins to close in on his prey.


**This story was written in the wake of ET4 where I got to meet the lovely Charlie Bewley and ended up drooling over him along with the lovely EternallyCullen, the fabulous glitteratiglue and the gorgeous lydiaestelle. They get the appeal.**

**I hope you enjoy reading this. As always, I own nothing.**

**Hide and Seek**

**DPOV**

I was so close; I had to be.

After eight long years I was finally gaining on her. I had caught her scent outside Dallas two weeks ago and tracked it north into Canada. She made it difficult for me of course, doubling back on herself often enough that sometimes I knew she was deliberately leading me in circles.

We had been doing this for too long not to pick up a few tricks every now and then. I had nearly had her in New York if that stupid girl hadn't got in the way. Never mind that she had paid for her interruption with her life, she had ruined everything; but then – I supposed – that had been her purpose.

A vibration in my pocket alerted me that my cell phone was ringing. I had never owned one before she was turned, there had been no need, but now it had become a vital link both to home and to her.

Staring disgustedly at the technology I had come to rely on, I flipped it open and held it up to my ear.

"What?"

"Now is that any kind of way to greet people?" her voice purred through the line and I felt myself relax at the sound.

"It is if it's Felix at the other end." I growled at the thought of my fellow guard member.

She laughed. "Is he bothering you again?"

"Only all the time since he found out about this phone. I take it you had something to do with that?"

I sniffed the air lightly out of habit as I spoke, and picked up the scent of fresh blood running freely somewhere nearby. Intrigued, I began to head in that direction.

"I just thought that Aro and the brothers might want a more convenient way of reaching you when you're needed. You can't keep checking in to see if they've left any messages for you with those friends of yours in Quebec."

"So you gave the number to Felix?" My tone was disbelieving.

A light giggle was my only answer. The smell of blood was even stronger now and I stared in disbelief as my nose led me to the outskirts of Vancouver and an abandoned warehouse. The area was completely desolate; this wasn't the kind of place where humans usually gathered.

"Anyway, I wasn't calling you to ask about Felix."

I began to circle the building suspiciously, assessing all the entrances and windows, and trying to work out if there was anyone inside. I could only hear the one heartbeat coming from inside, but that didn't mean that there wasn't something else in there too.

Half-distracted, it took me a minute to reply to her. "Why did you call then?"

Her voice was cheery as she answered. "I just thought I'd check in and see how close you were to catching me."

I smiled at that; no, neither of us were taking this chase that seriously anymore, but neither of us were still willing to lose.

"About as close as I ever am." It was my standard answer whenever she asked.

"Really? I thought you'd gotten closer to me recently."

No. Just the one heartbeat in the building, and just the one being if I wasn't very much mistake. I'd go inside in a minute and work out where that delicious-smelling blood was coming from.

For the meantime though, I turned my attention back to the conversation. "And what gave you that impression?"

Another burst of throaty laughter rang into my ear and I scowled at the phone.

"Oh don't be like that," she chided me. "There's a lovely treat for you inside that building; there's no need for you to look so petulant."

I froze and then spun in a slow circle, this time frantically scanning the land around me. She could see me, I was sure of it; now I just had to find her. A small rustling sound came from my left and my eyes jerked towards that direction.

She was now cackling merrily in my ear.

"You won't find me, no matter how hard you look. I'm hidden."

I continued to survey my surroundings, ignoring her rebuke, aware that I was exposed where I stood.

"Where are you?" It was the first time since we'd begun the chase that I had asked her this, the first time I had dared.

"Never you mind," she responded tartly. "It doesn't matter where I am."

"Oh, I think it does."

I could practically hear her pout through the phone. "But if you keep looking for me then you won't get your treat?"

"My treat?" I had no clue what she was talking about.

"You don't think humans seriously wander around here by themselves by choice, do you?"

My head spun round to face the warehouse again. "The human?" My feet inadvertently began to walk towards the huge sliding door that led into the building.

"You've been hunting me down for so long, Demetri, that I thought you deserved a gift." I closed my eyes briefly at the sound of her voice wrapping around my name.

"That's very kind of you."

"I thought so."

I opened the door and took two steps into the warehouse before stopping dead in my tracks.

I had been wrong before, there wasn't only one human in this building. There were two. I had only listened for heartbeats though and one of them certainly didn't have one of those anymore.

The man was stretched out in the middle of the concrete floor. Smartly dressed, his shirt had been ripped open, exposing the long painful scratches that scored down his chest, and the large, bloody bite mark that stood out clearly against his skin in the moonlight that filtered into the building through the open door. His glassy eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling.

I walked closer to him and knelt down, placing a hand over his rapidly cooling arm. She had eaten recently.

A small noise in my ear reminded me that I was still on the phone with her.

"Couldn't resist a taste, could you?"

To my surprise, she snorted, an entirely graceless sound, but one that strangely amused me.

"No. That was my dinner. Yours is probably hiding in a corner somewhere."

I looked into the dark corners of the large room, picking out the shape of a figure huddled in one of the shadowy corners, as she had predicted.

"You got me dinner?"

"No," she said slowly, as if I were stupid. "I know you've probably already eaten. This is a special treat."

The figure finally seemed to gain some measure of self-preservation and bolted for the door. Reacting on instinct, I spun around and grabbed the girl who was trying to escape, using her momentum to swing her around and back into the room. She stumbled over the body of the man and fell down into a heap on the floor. Her blonde hair was falling down and her make-up was smeared across her face where she had been crying. Even now as I watched, she began to sob uncontrollably.

Humans were so ugly when they cried.

If I looked underneath the make-up and red face though, she seemed somewhat familiar.

"Do you like her?" The disconnected voice came down the line.

"Who is she?"

"You saw her two days ago in Saskatoon. She was waiting for her friends outside a club and you were so close to grabbing her and pulling her into that alley."

I remembered now. I had been hungry, sick of feeding off the homeless and the dissolute. Their blood was always thinner somehow, less appetising. I had decided to treat myself to a juicier meal. This girl had seemed perfect – well fed, clean clothes and face, reeking of money – she would be an excellent target. Only her friends had shown up just as I was about to pounce and I was left hungry and snarling in rage.

Yet here she was now, shaking in fear, lying at my feet. I could already feel the venom begin to pool in my mouth, but there was something I had to say first.

"You've been watching me?"

"Do you like her?"

I smiled cruelly. "You know I do, otherwise you wouldn't have brought her all the way here."

"I felt that you deserved something special for once. Do you know you've been tracking me for eight whole years today? Such a milestone deserves to be remembered."

She knew how long we had continued playing this game. She had cared enough to take note of it. I took an un-needed breath to calm myself. "Do you...?"

She cut me off. "You should go eat. I'll call later."

The phone went dead and I swore viciously.

The girl on the floor whimpered. I turned to glare at her.

"Do you know why she's doing this to me? Why she left you here like this?"

"Please. Don't hurt me." She grabbed the bottom of my pants and I winced and stepped back; I despised grovelling. "My boyfriend's hurt..."

I pocketed the phone again. "Your boyfriend's dead. There's not a lot that can be done about that now."

The girl wailed again and I rolled my eyes, gripping her arms and pulling her up towards me. She made one last futile protest.

"Please, I'll do anything."

I quirked an eyebrow at that; I always found it amusing just what people begging for their lives considered 'anything' to be. "Really? Anything?"

"Anything that you want." The girl painted a coquettish smile across her face and placed a hand on my chest. Was she seriously trying to seduce me into letting her go? Better women had tried and failed, and this little girl didn't stand up to any of them. Her hand began to shakily slide down towards my stomach but I stopped it before it could get any further; this was no longer amusing, just irritating.

"Thanks for the offer, sweetheart, but I'm going to have to regretfully decline."

The smile was gone, replaced by an unsightly snarl of outrage.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

I couldn't help my stifled laughter at her indignation. She had really believed that her charms were enough to sway my mind.

"Why are you doing this?" she screeched, her hands no longer trying to caress me, but curled into fists and beating at me. "Why are you doing this?"

This I preferred; I always appreciated my food more if it attempted to fight back – it made the blood run hotter.

Getting her arms under control, I raised a hand and gently brushed her hair out of her face. She slumped against me in relief at the kind gesture. Relief that turned to horror when I gripped her chin and turned her face towards mine.

"Because you're my gift. And it would be rude to turn that gift away."

She screamed as I used my grip to tilt her head to one side, exposing her neck. I fought the urge to cringe from the high-pitched sound, made worse by my enhanced hearing. The sound abruptly cut off into a strangled yell when I suck my teeth viciously into the flesh around her jugular. It was deliberately messy and deliberately painful.

The blood poured down my throat, rich and satisfying. Knowing that she had left this girl for me made it even better. I swallowed as quickly as possible, not wanting to waste any of it. The girl's limbs jerked spasmodically as I fed before eventually stilling. Humans always seemed to drain dry so quickly nowadays, or maybe the blood was just of poorer quality or something. I reflected fondly back on the 1700s, everyone had tasted of the land then, more earthy and clean.

My t-shirt was splattered with blood from the arterial spray and I stripped it off, dabbing conscientiously at my lower face. I hated messy eating, but sometimes it was unavoidable. The shirt was no great loss though; all of the clothing that I usually wore as part of the guard was back in Italy. It had been felt that as I was tracking in some populated areas, I might look out of place in my usual Regency-style clothing. Modern clothing wasn't any more or less comfortable, but I cared less about getting blood on it.

I tossed the soiled shirt on top of the bodies and began to look around for an accelerant and some fuel. There was too much evidence left in this warehouse from me and, no doubt, from her as well. Luckily, when this warehouse had been abandoned someone had left behind several cans of fuel and I immediately set about dousing the walls and floor of the building with the fluid.

As I completed my task, I thought about the conversation we had had. It had been different in tone from her usual calls. Normally, whenever she phoned, it was to taunt me. To test my patience by determining how far away from her I was.

But this call, the gift, her presence so close...

It was hard to believe it had been eight years. I could remember every single day of the chase, all the way back to the beginning.

She hadn't really meant anything to me back then, just another blood bag thrown into the great hall for us all to snack on. Apparently she had been special though, even then.

She had been so unlike the rest of the idiot tourists who had blindly followed Heidi into the castle in Volterra, dumbly wondering at the fake history of the building thrown at them. Anyone with half a brain could have picked through the gaping holes in that story instantly. That pretty much said it all really.

Only on that day, she had sensed that something was wrong – whether it was the story, the 'people' she saw in the halls or just the general sense of foreboding inspired by Volterra. Whatever it was, she had evaded Heidi and ran, hurtling down the stone labyrinth as fast as she could and sobbing when, after she tripped and injured herself, we caught her slumped against a locked metal door.

Much had been made of her daring. Of course humans had tried to escape in the past, but only usually once they were in the hall and the feeding had already begun.

She had, of course, been presented in front of the brothers, then in front of the twins. Nothing. She was completely immune to their talents.

She was a curiosity, and Aro loved to collect curiosities.

He had been the one to change her of course, not wanting to risk anyone else accidentally draining her dry before the venom had a chance to spread through her system.

The second surprise had been her changing – three days, just like the rest of us, only she didn't scream or move or make any other sound. We frequently had to check in on her to make sure that the venom had taken hold properly and that her heart was still beating.

It all went smoothly though and she had opened her bright scarlet eyes as if on cue.

Changing someone for a position in the guard was fairly routine by now: explain to them what they were, tell them about the guard and the great honour that would be bestowed upon them if they joined – I could see Jane scowling at the offer -, give them their first meal as a vampire and then get them some clean clothes to wear.

It was standard procedure, down to the guard members in the hall during her meeting with Aro, just in case her newborn tendencies got the better of her.

They did, but not in the way we all expected. Instead of attacking, she ran.

And she was fast.

Her senses led her easily out of the castle and then the town and once she was in the open countryside, no-one could catch her. Her extra strength helped to increase her speed and once she was out of sight and across the mountains into Austria, she was lost.

That's when we found out that my talent for instinctively tracking people was useless against her too.

After that, it became almost an obsession to me, tracking her down, not using my power, but using the heightened senses that all vampires were gifted with. It had been a painful education in something I had considered myself already skilled at.

Over the years though it had become more fun. The brothers allowed me to continue hunting for her, returning only to Volterra when necessity demanded. Then she had started to play the game as well, contacting the guard, driving Jane crazy, flirting from a distance with Aro.

He absolutely adored her and she him; they wrote letters delivered to PO boxes and exchanged gifts through one of the Volturi's human contacts. He sent her a diamond choker. She sent him eight pints of virgin blood that she had drained herself.

It was a strange relationship and yet it worked. Aro often bemoaned the fact that she had run and chosen not to return to Italy, yet whenever I asked him what he wanted me to do when I caught up with her, he always smiled and said, "Whatever you want."

I had ignored this odd behaviour and continued on my hunt, determined that one woman would not defeat me.

I had never got close to her though, not until New York.

I had finally managed to hunt her down to a shabby apartment on the outskirts of Queens when I found it – a tiny black cell phone, numbers already programmed inside and a note.

_It'll be nice to have someone to talk to_.

That was the first hint I had received that she was tiring of the chase, that she was beginning to get lonely. I hadn't realised, but I had too. All these years of running and the sheer focus involved in tracking had left me devoid of all but fleeting contact with others. To have someone talk to me – actually to _me_ and not just to the general guard – was incredibly refreshing.

At first the calls had just been taunts as I chased her in ever increasing circles around the city. Then had come the call which had changed the balance in our relationship and made us more than just hunter and prey.

She offered an invitation to a party; I hadn't even realised that the New Year had crept upon me – it wasn't something I had ever paid attention to, short of noting that the drunk revellers were easily picked off. Curiosity was my downfall though and I had ended that call with an utterance that I would be there.

She had picked a crowded bar of course, the crush of people making her scent harder to detect and heightening my bloodlust as barely-dressed humans shoved and brushed against me. I had closed my eyes briefly to get a hold of myself, it wouldn't do to lose control, and when I opened them there she was.

Dressed in blue, she had sidled up to me, taking my hand and leading me into the crush of people. We had danced, well, swayed, together for hours, her small frame pressed against mine and my arms looped around her waist. I had studied her face in great detail that night, trying to figure her out.

Eventually as the night began to wind down, she had slid out of my arms with a regretful smile.

"I should go now."

I had halted her exit, grabbing her arm and stopping her in her path, not wanting to see her leave, not wanting to lose sight of her again. "Why are you still running? You don't need to."

The false smile had dropped off her face now, to be replaced only by pain.

"Because I need to."

I had shaken my head, not understanding. She had stepped closer to me once more and cupped my cheek.

"If I don't keep running, Demetri, if I just stand still, then you won't bother to chase after me anymore." She dropped her hand. "And I'll be left alone again."

I had opened my mouth to reply with...I don't know what...when a skinny redhead had interrupted, throwing her arms around my neck and screaming to her friends that she could find a guy and have a good time if she wanted to. In that instance, I had let go of her hand, and in that instance, she was gone.

The redhead had died painfully later that night for interrupting and getting in the way, her screams of agony echoing around the empty house I had borrowed for the day.

Once she was dead though, I was left me in the exact same position as I had been before. Hunting her down.

She had left the city of course, heading south, a sneaky move on her part. Neither of us would be able to move around as easily in the sunny south, something she had counted on, no doubt, to slow me down. There was an edge to the game now, made sharper by our encounter.

The rules had changed, so slowly that I hadn't even noticed how much until our encounter in that dark club.

I was no longer chasing her for the sake of the Volturi and the guard; Aro was perfectly content for both of us to continue running around each other for as long as we wanted. As long as I was available when he needed me to fulfil my obligations towards the brothers, he didn't care that I was sprinting around North America after a vampire who was no longer considered rogue or a danger to our kind.

Now I was tracking her because she wanted me to. She needed me to continue coming after her, to ensure that she wasn't forgotten or left alone.

And I found that I wanted to continue hunting her down.

This was no longer about duty.

The realisation only came to me after a call from Felix though. After we had exchanged news about what was happening around the world and back home in Italy, and I had relayed the latest details about the chase, he had said something that shocked me.

"The way you talk about her, I think you like her."

"What?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Oh come on. The way you talk about her... No-one's asking you to track her down anymore, Demetri, you're doing this of your own accord now."

I had blustered a bit. "I don't know what you mean by that. I just like to finish the job that I started."

"Oh, come on. It's not your job anymore; you could come back here and no-one would say anything. But you're not going to, because you need to go after her – it's like an addiction now."

I had nothing to say to him, so I just stood there, mouth agape, while he continued.

"Do you know what everyone here thinks? I heard them talking about it – Aro and Marcus. Apparently you're bonded closer than either of you knew; they think you're mated."

I had scoffed at the idea when he told me. Surely if I was going to be mated I would have found someone a lot sooner than now. It was an intriguing idea though, and a very small part of me quite liked the thought.

It was with that in mind that I had tried flirting with her the next time she called, rather than just growling at her in frustration as I usually did. To my surprise, she had flirted back, and that had set the future tone of all of our conversations leading up to now.

She had still taunted me though, never let me get so close to her, never left me a gift before. The softness of New York had been replaced with challenge...

...until today.

Frowning, I dug the lighter I always carried out of my jeans' pocket and set fire to my shirt, the flames quickly spreading and catching on the accelerant I had liberally spread about. It was time to get out of the warehouse now before I became trapped there.

Fire licked around the edge of the door as I stepped through it and slammed it shut. The feel of the wind brushing against my back reminded me that I should probably try to find a new shirt before venturing into town again. Walking around without one in the middle of winter would only call attention to myself, especially if the sun decided to make a rare appearance in the sky.

The warehouse was burning away merrily now and I smiled in satisfaction at my work.

The smile was wiped off my face however, when a sharp, gust of wind blew a familiar scent towards me. I spun around in disbelief...

And there she was.

She stood no more than a few hundred metres away from me, her tiny body standing firm against the elements that buffeted around her. Her long dark hair swirled wildly around her and her red eyes, which should have been a vivid crimson after her meal, were swiftly darkening.

I took one step towards her, then another, before stumbling to a halt, wary of moving any closer.

Her eyes trailed over my exposed body, just as mine did the same over hers. She looked infinitely more fragile than the last time I had seen her.

Ever so slowly, she raised her arm, her hand outstretched, and curled her fingers up one by one, beckoning me towards her.

My feet began to move. I got within a hundred metres of her when she suddenly turned and ran, only this time she wasn't running to get away, she was running so I would follow. And follow I did.

I was happy to run at an easy pace behind her, keeping her in my sight as she wound her way out of the city and into the forest. Every now and then she would look back and check that I was still there.

A clearing was up ahead and she darted across it easily and then vanished. I stopped on the edge of the tree line and surveyed the terrain. On the other side of the open meadow, buried in amongst the tall trunks was a small log cabin. A rustling from inside told me that this was where she was and I crossed the space between quickly, hesitating briefly before pushing the creaking door open.

She was stood waiting calmly for me in the middle of the small space. A fire burned cosily in a furnace in the corner of the room and a large dark green armchair was angled towards it. Her coat had been discarded and thrown over the back of it. A large rug which spread over half the floor was the only other decoration and I wondered how she'd come across this place originally.

My appraisal took only a second before my attention was once again captured by her.

Up close she looked tired, even for a vampire. Her jeans were barely clinging onto her hips and her black shirt hung loosely off her shoulders.

"You followed me," she said softly.

I cocked my head to one side. "Didn't you know that I would?"

Her red lips twisted into a rueful smile. "I'm not entirely sure why you even began in the first place."

"Maybe I liked the challenge," I retorted.

"Maybe you did," she agreed reasonably. "But you didn't have to after New York. I half expected you to give up."

"I don't like giving up." I took a cautious step closer to her and smiled when her eyes immediately dropped to my bare chest before shooting back up to my face, her mouth twitching slightly. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the she was embarrassed. "See something you like?"

She mocked glared at me. "You're not as skinny as you look."

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

She was mocking me again. I recognised the tone of voice from our phone conversations. "Well you can never really tell under all those clothes you used to wear. I wouldn't have liked to be disappointed."

I couldn't help but grin at that. "I'll have to make sure I do my best to make sure you're not disappointed then, won't I?"

We both froze, a new tension suddenly pervading the tiny cabin. She ducked her head and peered up at me from beneath her lashes.

I pounced.

My arms wrapped around her back, cushioning the fall to the floor, despite that she couldn't possibly be hurt by it. Her hands automatically came up to my shoulders, her nails digging into my skin, and her legs widened, cradling my hips between her thighs.

She stared up at me, wide eyed.

I could feel her curves underneath my body and as she licked her lips nervously I felt my body react. Pushing my lower body against hers, I smiled when she gasped. Slowly, I lowered my face towards hers, but paused an inch away from her lips. She tried to lunge upwards towards me, but I drew back, evading her.

I chuckled as she growled at me in frustration, but I wasn't about to give in just yet, despite my urges. There were more important things at stake here.

I dropped the grin, aware that I needed her to take this next question seriously, and not just as part of the game we had been playing with each other for so long.

"Are you going to run again?"

She stilled underneath me, uncertainty crossing her face. "Do you want me to?"

"No." Of that I was sure.

She shifted underneath me, opening her mouth to speak and then closing it again. She was nervous.

"Will you still want me if I stop running?"

Such a question needed only a simple answer; it was all so clear now, I couldn't believe I hadn't realised earlier.

"Yes."

She lunged at me again and this time I didn't move away, letting her attack my mouth with her own, sucking and licking and biting. Her teeth grazed my lower lip and I immediately felt the sting of her venom.

The shock of the pain had me slamming her down to the floor, grabbing her wrists and pinning them above her head so she couldn't move.

She groaned as I kissed along her jaw and made my way down to her neck, biting down hard where her jugular once throbbed with her pulse. She whimpered at the action, but went limp underneath my mouth. Surrendering.

The second I released her hands, they were buried in my hair and she dragged my head back up to kiss her again. She bucked upwards, her body writhing underneath me, and I began to grind down against her centre, granting her the pressure that she wanted.

Abandoning her lips, I dragged my mouth down her skin and started unbuttoning her shirt, kissing every inch of her that was exposed. Her hands ran up and down my back, pressing me against her and digging her nails in whenever I found a sensitive spot.

It was when I licked the bite mark I had made on her neck though that she went wild, a sudden burst of strength upending me so I was now flat on the floor and she was straddling me. Her lips captured mine heatedly again as her fingers went to work frantically on the buttons of my pants.

Her passion only served to fuel mine and with a roar I tore off the remaining fabric of her top, ignoring the rest of the buttons which scattered across the floor with a clatter. Her bra was discarded in the same manner and I raised my head and latched onto her bare breasts, sucking and licking at her puckered nipples.

Temporarily abandoning my pants, she screamed and grabbed my head, her fingers painfully gripping and pulling at my hair, guiding me where exactly she wanted me to go. I took advantage of her momentary lapse of control to reverse our positions once more, loving the feel of her underneath me.

Brushing her hands aside, I slid down her body, briefly flickering my tongue into the indent of her belly button. My hands hooked around the waistband of her jeans and I drew back and sharply jerked them off her legs along with her panties and her shoes, without bothering to undo them first. For such a petite woman, she had extraordinarily long legs and as I ran my hands firmly up them, I couldn't wait to feel them wrapped around me.

I skimmed my hands over the part of her that she wanted me to touch the most and she whined low in her throat, continuing to pull harshly at my hair. Pulling myself up her body, and making sure that she felt my bare skin pressed against her up every inch, I settled on top of her, capturing her mouth with my own once more. I couldn't help it – she just tasted too delectable to resist.

Her own fingers flitted across my back lightly as we kissed, almost mapping out my skin, before she suddenly dug her nails sharply into my shoulders and dragged them down my back to my ass. The immediate sting of pain told me that the furrows she'd carved into me were deep and I hissed, drawing back to growl warningly at her.

She didn't take the sound as a rebuke though, rather as a challenge, and before I could blink, she ripped my pants off, purring as she sinuously rubbed her legs against mine. I kicked off my shoes and then grabbed her legs behind the knees, wrapping them around me like I'd wanted to and aligning our bodies perfectly.

"Demetri," she whispered.

I struck, plunging fully into her with one quick thrust. I barely gave her a chance to recover before I set up a punishing rhythm, purging my body of all the doubts and worries. She was here now with me, she'd promised that she wouldn't leave, she'd promised not to run again.

I needed to be rough though, needed to assert my dominance. One hand grabbed her long hair, twisting it around my palm and dragging her head back, exposing her face, neck and upper chest to me. I lowered my mouth as if to kiss her and she made that delicious whimpering sound again, trying to encourage me. I sucked her pouting lower lip between my own and bit down, swallowing the small noises she made in protest.

Her heels dug firmly into my ass, encouraging me to move faster and I obliged willingly, angling my hips so that every thrust hit the spot inside her.

Our movements became more frantic, grunts emitting from both of us at the force. Her breath quickening and her arms tensing around me was the only warning I was given before she screamed out her release.

As if waiting for its cue, my body followed hers, balls tightening and thrust becoming jerkier as I lost control. It was all I could do not to bite her again, but she already bore my mark and the demon inside me was satisfied with that.

I roared her name as I came, acknowledging her possession of me just as readily as she had submitted earlier.

"Bella!"

As my body trembled above her, she wrapped her arms around my neck and tugged lightly, encouraging me to settle on top of her. I allowed my arms to give in and rest my weight upon her, my face buried in her neck, still connected to her. We lay there for several minutes, both panting heavily. It was more the shock of the moment than necessity which left us breathing heavily.

We were in no hurry to move. I dotted small kisses along her neck and shoulder, while she stroked carefully over the already healed scratches she had made on my back.

Eventually, I pulled out of her, flopping onto my back and putting some distance between us, no matter how small. She sat up and watched me carefully, her hand reaching out towards my chest, but drawing back before she made contact.

"Never leave me," she whispered.

"I'm not the one who always leaves," I said evenly.

She thought for a moment. "Are you angry that I do?"

I reached up to cup her cheek and she nuzzled into my hand, closing her eyes. "Not angry, no."

"But..." she prompted, those beautiful red eyes opening again.

"But you never answered me before. Are you going to run again?"

She smiled slowly and then lay back down, snuggling under my still upraised arm. She carelessly threw a leg over my hips and her arm over my chest, both giving comfort and pinning me down.

"Not unless you ask me to."

I smiled at that. "And why would I ask you to start running again?"

"Because," she propped her chin up on my chest, peering up at me, "you might enjoy chasing me." She raised an eyebrow mockingly.

"Maybe I just enjoy the reward I get when I catch you."

"Hey!" she protested, slapping me lightly. She hid a smile though – obviously not as upset as she pretended to be. "Anyway, I couldn't run away again even if I wanted to – I don't have anything to wear, you ripped my shirt and bra. I think I would draw attention to myself if I tried to go into the city topless."

"You'll just have to stay here then, won't you?" I couldn't help my satisfaction with that.

She hummed and pressed herself closer to my side. "I don't mind."

Feeling her beside me filled me with a peace I had never expected to find and never thought that finally catching her would bring.

She gently traced the area where, if I was human, my heart would pound against my skin. "So what now?"

"I don't know." I stroked the soft skin of her arm. "You can always come with me the next time I have to track someone down for the brothers, or you can come back to Italy with me; you haven't been back since that first time, have you?"

She shook her head. "You're not going to disappear on me?"

"No," I reassured her, then something occurred to me. "What would you do if I did though?"

She grinned up at me. "I'd have to hunt you down of course."


End file.
